The present invention relates to a fibrous insulation blanket pre-cut for custom fitting the fibrous insulation blanket into cavities of different widths formed by the framework of a building, such as both standard and non-standard width wall, floor, ceiling and roof cavities formed in part by successive frame members; and, in particular, to a pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket that can be handled as a unit when insulating a cavity of a certain predetermined width or easily separated or torn apart (by hand) along one or more cuts in the fibrous insulation blanket to form narrower fibrous insulation blankets when insulating a cavity having a lesser width.
Building structures, such as residential houses, industrial buildings, office buildings, mobile homes, prefabricated buildings and similar structures typically include walls (both interior and exterior), ceilings, floors and roofs which are insulated for both thermal and acoustical purposes, especially the exterior walls, the ceilings below open attic spaces, and the roofs of such structures. The walls, ceilings, floors and roofs of these structures include framing members, e.g. studs, rafters, floor and ceiling joists, beams and similar support members, which are normally spaced-apart standard distances established by the building industry. Sheathing, paneling, lathing or similar construction materials are secured to these framing members to form the walls, ceilings, floors and roofs of the structures. While the contractor seeks to maintain the spacing of the framing members in these structures at these standard distances for ease of construction and the insulation of the elongated cavities formed in these walls, ceilings, floors, and roofs, frequently, the walls, ceilings, floors and/or roofs of these structures include elongated cavities defined, at least in part, by successive or adjacent framing members which are spaced apart a nonstandard distance less than the standard spacing between framing members. Studies have shown that in a typical residential house, it is common for 50% or more of the framing members in the exterior walls of these structures to be spaced apart at nonstandard distances less than the standard spacing for such framing members.
When insulating these elongated cavities of various nonstandard widths, less than a standard width, it has been the practice to take an insulation batt preformed to fit the standard cavity width and reduce the width of the insulation batt by cutting off and removing a strip of insulation material from one or both longitudinal edges of the insulation batt. U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,787; issued Jul. 26, 1994; to Kaarst; illustrates this approach. In the invention of this patent, the insulation batts or panels have widths at least equal to a predetermined maximum distance between adjacent support members defining the cavities that the batts or panels are to insulate. The batts or panels are provided with facings that are folded over along the longitudinal edges of the batts or panels so that strips of insulation material can be cut away from one or both longitudinal edges of the batts or panels to fit the batts or panels between support members spaced apart less than the predetermined maximum spacing. This method of trimming the insulation batts at the job site by cutting the batts to fit between the more closely spaced support members is time consuming, raises a significant risk or safety issue, and relies heavily on the worker""s skill to accurately trim the batt or panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,905; issued Sep. 19, 1989; to Bihy et al; discloses another approach to the problem. In the invention disclosed in this patent, a continuous strip of fibrous insulation with transverse marking lines is provided. The worker cuts the strip of fibrous insulation at the job site to a width somewhat greater than the spacing between the framing members, i.e. rafters, defining the space to be insulated. Of course this method of forming insulation batts or panels at the job site is also time consuming and relies heavily on the skill of the worker cutting the insulation strip to achieve a good result.
A different approach to the problem is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,335,968; issued Dec. 7, 1943; to Sawtell. In the invention of this patent, the lateral edges of the insulation blanket are turned down to enable the insulation batt to be placed between framing members, i.e. rafters, spaced closer together than the width of the insulation batt. This approach does not require any cutting or trimming at the job site, but it can be used only where the spacing between the framing members is slightly less than the width of insulation blanket. In addition, the extra insulation material used to insulate cavities having less than a standard cavity width would add significantly to material costs.
Thus it can be seen that there has been a need to provide fibrous insulation blankets or batts which can be used to either insulate cavities of a predetermined width, such as but not limited to standard width framework cavities, or be quickly and easily reduced in width to fit cavities of lesser widths, such as less than standard width cavities without a need to cut the fibrous insulation blankets at the job site with knives or similar cutting tools which is both time consuming and can result in cuts or other injuries to the workers.
The pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket or batt of U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,594, issued Jul. 4, 2000, provides a solution to the above discussed problems and the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket or batt (hereinafter xe2x80x9cblanketxe2x80x9d) of the present invention provides another improved solution to the above discussed problems. The pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket of the present invention is pre-cut for custom fitting the insulation blanket into building cavities of different widths formed by the framework of a building. The width of the insulation blanket is typically equal to or substantially equal to the width of a standard cavity to be insulated by the insulation blanket, e.g. about fourteen and one half to about fifteen inches or about twenty two and one half to about twenty three inches for a standard wall cavity. However, the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket may also be initially formed at a selected width, such as but not limited to about thirteen to about thirteen and one half inches, less than a standard cavity width.
Do to the compressibility and resilience of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets of the present invention (generally pre-cut glass fiber insulation blankets), the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets can be fitted into cavities having a width up to about one and one half inches less than the width of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets without removing any sections of the blankets, e.g. a pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket having a width between about fourteen and one half to about fifteen inches can be installed within a cavity having a width of about thirteen inches or greater. For cavities of lesser widths, greater than about one and one half inches less in width than the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets, the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets may have one or more sections removed from the blankets so that the remaining portions of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets will better fit into the cavities being insulated.
The pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket of the present invention has one or more separable connectors within the blanket between and joining adjacent sections of the fibrous insulation blanket. The separable connectors are formed within the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket by pairs of cuts in the major surfaces of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket. The cuts in each pair of cuts are spaced from each other a distance sufficient to form a separable connector within the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket between adjacent sections of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket whereby the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket can be handled as a unit for insulating a cavity having a predetermined width, such as but not limited to a standard cavity width, or easily separated or torn apart by hand at one or more of the separable connectors into two or more sections for insulating a cavity having a lesser width, such as a cavity having less than a standard cavity width.
Since the separable connector(s) are formed within the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket and, preferably about midway between the major surfaces of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket instead of adjacent a major surface of the fibrous insulation blanket, as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,594, the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket of the present invention may be easier to handle than the pre-cut fibrous insulation blankets of U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,594. The contact between the sidewalls of the cuts on either side of and forming a separable connector within the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket of the present invention helps prevent the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket from being flexed to much at the separable connector. With the single cut used to form the separable connector(s) in U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,594, the contact between the sidewalls of the cut help prevent the fibrous insulation blanket from flexing to much at the separable connector when the fibrous insulation blanket is flexed in one direction, but allows the fibrous insulation blanket to be more easily flexed when flexed in the other direction with the separable connector functioning as a hinge adjacent one of the major surfaces of the fibrous insulation blanket.
A major surface of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket may have a facing bonded thereto which, preferably, has one or more perforated lines or overlapping tabs, tabs which are adhesively bonded together, and/or tear strings for permitting the facing to be separated at the cut(s) in that major surface of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket to facilitate the separation or tearing apart of the faced pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket by hand, if required. Preferably, the perforations of the perforated line(s) are closed by the bonding agent (typically, asphalt or another bituminous material or a pressure sensitive adhesive) bonding the facing to the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket so that the facing functions as a vapor barrier in spite of the perforations. Thus, the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket with the facing can still be quickly and easily modified to fit a cavity of a particular width without sacrificing the vapor barrier properties of the facing sheet.
Preferably, the facing sheet has tabs for securing the faced pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket to framing members, e.g. with staples or an adhesive. These tabs may be located along each lateral edge of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket and facing sheet and pairs of tabs may be located adjacent each pair of cuts and separable connector in the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket with perforated lines in the facing sheet or an adhesive layer separably joining the tabs of each pair of tabs.
With the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket of the present invention, the blanket can be quickly and easily sized to fit wall or other building cavities without the need to use cutting tools at the job site to cut the insulation. Thus, the use of the pre-cut fibrous insulation blanket of the present invention to insulate the wall, floor, ceiling and roof cavities of buildings, especially wall cavities, not only reduces safety concerns, but greatly speeds up the installation process. Since insulation installers are frequently paid by the piece, the present invention enables them to operate more profitably.